Religion Homework

There are three sections of the exam and a total of 4 questions that you must answer – two in section one, one in section two, and one in section three. The final exam is worth a total of 30 points. Your answers should be clearly written, organized, and carefully edited.

Section 1 (10 Points – 5 points for each question)

Answer any two (2) of the following questions. Your answer should be one to two paragraphs in length, no more than ½ page.

1) Analysts have observed that the two most common occupations and education background of religious fundamentalist leaders are engineering and computer science. Why do you think that is? What is it about those fields that lend themselves to fundamentalism?

2) Jewish, Christian, and Islamic scriptures are full of passages that seemingly support the idea of slavery. Given very few today support the owning of slaves, why do many people take other scriptural passages on other ancient social practices and convictions (like the “impure” status of homosexual acts) as relevant or authoritative? That is, if we condemn homosexuality based on religious scripture, should we not also support the right of people to own human slaves?

3) In this video, street preacher Dean Saxon says that tearing out pages from the Qur’an in front of a mosque is a good form of “dialogue”. How would you respond to him drawing upon what you know about the world of religions?

Section 1 (10 Points)

Answer one (1) of the following questions. Your answer should be ½-1 page in length.

4) If we wanted to make a comparison of the ethical norms between two different religious traditions based on how they accept and integrate religious minorities (or not), would it be valid to compare Mahatma Gandhi from the Hindu tradition with Adolf Hitler in the Christian tradition? Why would this comparison be valid or invalid? What would make the comparison more valid and why?

5) We discussed several different examples of religious syncretism. In one pattern, a new religion is formed, such as Sikhism (combining ideas and practices from both Hinduism and Islam). In another pattern, major religions incorporate local practices and make them mainstream, such as Christmas (borrowing from pre-Christian pagan rites) or Hajj (that is rooted in pre-Islamic Arab polytheistic practices). In a third pattern, as major religions spread, converts often continue practicing their own local traditions, creating cultural variations in religious practices. In recognizing these three patterns of syncretism, explain how syncretism is interconnected with ideas of orthodoxy and heterodoxy. Provide some concrete examples in your answer.

Section 3 (10 points)

Answer the following question. Your answer should be approximately ½ page in length.

6) If you had to write an essay question for a final exam for an introductory level religious studies course on “Religions of the World” what would it be? Why is asking such a question important?

Do not answer your own question; rather, make an argument of why the question you ask is important. Some of the issues you should engage in your answer are: What type of information does it require a student be familiar with? How does your question engage theoretical and/or comparative issues? Why is the topic something a student should know?